The terminal block is a component widely used in all kinds of working machines. The terminal block is used to couple two or more sets of power lines, control lines or data lines. In general, in a working machine dozens to hundreds of terminal blocks are used, to supply electric power, control or data signals. In the operation and control of a working machine, two or more terminal blocks are coupled in an array, in order to share the electric power or the data or control signals.
In the conventional art, there two ways in coupling a plurality of terminal blocks. The first method is to provide a connector in each terminal block. The connector provides a plurality of T-shaped connector pins and an insulation body that encapsulates the connector pins. The insulation body provides 3 connecting units, in which 2 connecting units in the horizontal direction respectively are constructed complementarily to one another, so to produce electrical connections to other connectors having respective complementary connecting units, and a third connecting unit orients substantially perpendicular to the first and second connecting units, to produce electrical connections to the internal circuits of the terminal block. An exemplary structure of such a T-shaped connector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,704,079, “T-shaped shielded bus connector.” Detailed description of the structure and the fabrication of the T-shaped connector may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,264, “Electrical or electronic device for seating on a mounting rail and process for producing same.”
The other type of the coupling is called “data bus.” An exemplary design in the data bus structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,241, “I/O device for a data bus.” According to the disclosure of this U.S. patent, a support rail is provided to detachably and slidably support a plurality of terminal blocks thereon. A data bus structure is provided in the support rail. In the terminal blocks a connector is provided to couple the conductive lines in the data bus. The data bus structure includes a circuit board and a plurality of conductive lines formed thereon, with each pair of conductive lines being arranged in parallel and in substantially identical distance. The connector includes a plurality of connector pins and an insulation body encapsulating the connector pins. The insulation body provides 2 connecting units, wherein one connecting unit couples with the internal circuits of the terminal block and the other couples its connector pins to the conductive lines of the data bus structure. In order to ensure the connections between the connector pins of the connector and the conductive lines of the data bus structure, contact springs or elastic pieces are provided at the connecting end of the connector pins. The contact springs extrude from the connecting unit and press the conductive lines of the data bus structure.
The above-described approaches provide effective solutions for the lateral connection of terminal blocks. However, the T-shaped connector has a complicated structure. The connector pins are fabricated in a plurality of steps. In many cases the connector pin must include a plurality of parts. In addition, the insulation body is also an assembly of a plurality of parts. High material costs and long assembly time are expected.
Compared to the T-shaped connector, the data bus structure is a favorable design, mainly because the support rail is an industrially standard component, used in the support of a plurality of terminal blocks. In this approach, the data bus structure is enclosed and supported in the support rail that is already a part of the terminal block system. The use of the data bus structure further simplifies the structure of the connector pins of the connector, if compared with the T-shaped connector. However, in the data bus structure the connections between the connector pins and the conductive lines are not stable. The use of the contact spring in assuring the connections does not only increase the cost of the connector but also make the structure of the connector pins complicated.
It is thus necessary to provide a novel data bus structure for the terminal blocks that provides stable electrical connections between the connector pins of the terminal block and the conductive lines of the data bus structure.
It is also necessary to provide a data bus structure for the terminal blocks that has simplified structure, is easy to assemble and is fabricated in low costs.
It is also necessary to provide a data bus structure for the terminal blocks to simplify the structure of the corresponding connector and its connector pins.